German Shepherds ... Our Faithful Companions

In order to share a little bit about our family to those of you that are getting to know us, we are a German Shepherd family.  If you have ever been brave enough to exit your vehicle in our driveway, you are one of the few!  If you haven't been to visit us yet, I feel that it is my responsibility to give you this information, lol.  If you call ahead, we will make sure you are free to get out of your vehicle.  Otherwise, they may keep you detained until we can rescue you.   

The female pictured here is the daughter of our treasured "Daddy" who sadly enough, passed away this year after many years of faithful companionship to our family.  Currently, we have five Shepherds.  Yes, five.  This is not a typo!  We began with one and that

Harvest Chicken Noodle Soup

This is one of my favorite recipes during this season and throughout winter.  It is a great way to use cold crop produce and fresh herbs for the garden or greenhouse.  Perfect for a cozy evening against the damp cold!   I am listing the conventional ingredients, but in the directions I will explain how I make it since I use what I have on hand and use as many fresh ingredients as possible.  I try to cook completely without preserved items from stores, keeping as true to the earth as possible and as close to the food as God created it.  In todays times, this isn’t always easy and I find it to be a constant learning process.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbsp Butter (use the real stuff, make your own or support your local dairy farmer)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth

1 (14.5 ounce) can vegetable broth

1/2 pound chopped cooked chicken breast

1 1/2 cups egg noodles

1 cup sliced carrots

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a large pot (my pot is a 6 quart pot) over medium heat, melt butter.  Cook onion and celery in butter until just tender, 5 minutes.

Pour in chicken and vegetable broths.  The best and cheapest broths to use are those that you save from cooking your own vegetables and chicken.  I always strain and freeze all left over liquid for soup making.  Thaw the broth and pour into pot until the pot is about 3/4 full.

Stir in chicken, noodles, carrots, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.  Since I do not own a noodle maker and my hands do not allow me to roll out my own noodles, I purchase freshly homemade noodles from my Amish neighbors.  You can use any noodles that you prefer.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes before serving.

~ I will usually add more ingredients by doubling the vegetables, chicken and herbs to make a heartier soup.

Ozark Treasures

Recently, my husband and I were making plans about how to celebrate our anniversary when I ran across a blog post by another Ozark Homesteader about her latest visit to a very interesting place called the Ozark Folk Center.  We had decided that we wanted to take a wandering drive for photography purposes, but to also have a specific destination in mind, we just couldn't decide what that destination would be until I came across her post.  Even though my husband and I have lived in the Ozarks for a combined total of 55 years, neither one of us had ever heard of this place.  It's not that they are trying to keep it a secret, but like much hidden in these mountains, Branson tends to get most of the publicity and quite frankly, Branson has gotten a bit too big for it's britches if you ask us.  We prefer the smaller, hidden treasures the Ozarks has to offer, especially anywhere that has genuine, traditional Ozark folk culture including our rich mountain music heritage.

We had a beautiful drive through the mountains that were at their peak of fall color except this year's peak wasn't the finest I've ever seen here, but still, the views were beautiful.  We traveled through some great towns, one worth mentioning is Calico Rock.

This historic, quaint town sets right on the White River, in the heart of the most scenic locations with some of the best hunting, fishing and wildlife in the world.  There is no flashing lights, no stop lights,

Autumn Harvest in Amish Country

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Nothing says Autumn more than an Amish wagon loaded down with the fall bounty of pumpkins, squash and gourds, a crisp wind and the crisp autumn leaves falling .  The harvest has been tremendous and the local Amish wagons are a testimony to that.  We are truly blessed to live in an area where we can learn so much from our wonderful neighbors.  They know the true meaning of heirloom seeds and how to grow just about anything.

Thanksgiving Turkey

 

If you happen to be in our neck of the woods, and stop by for a visit, this fella might be the first one to greet you!  Meet "Supper", our pet turkey, watchdog, king of the hill and comedian.  He is a Blue Slate Turkey and he is a lot of fun......usually.  Last year, when we got a few chickens, I never thought about ever obtaining an actual turkey. 

Autumn in the Ozark Mountains

 

Autumn in the Ozarks has begun.  This is a picture taking a turn out of our place.  Temperatures are reaching the high 70's and lower 80's during the day with a gentle breeze, strong enough to begin to blow the leaves around that have started to fall from the trees.  The nights are staying around the low 50's even though we had a real good threat of frost last week that didn't really amount to much.  

We are attempting to pick the last apples from the trees in whatever way we can reach them, which can be pretty creative at times and between trying to catch them and getting hit from them, we all get to laughing pretty good.  I don't know how many more apples I can stand to peel and I can't help but wonder if we won't be growing tired of apples by spring.  At this rate, I might still have apples by next year's harvest!  Probably not, but I really

Autumn Pumpkin Pie made with Heirloom Banana Squash

This year has been full of exciting discoveries in the garden and in the kitchen.  Has anyone ever heard of Heirloom Jumbo Pink Banana Squash?  I never had before this year and what a delightful find!  They are extremely easy to process for fresh use in any pumpkin recipe or to store in your freezer and the result is a much sweeter, smoother and lighter squash than pumpkin.  One squash goes a long way too.  This one I worked up today measured 24" long, I'm not sure how much it weighed but they can weigh from 10 to 40 pounds.

Simply begin by cutting the squash into lengths and then slice each of the lengths in half.

Scoop out the seeds and membranes.  In order to save the seeds to grow your own Jumbo Pink Banana Squash, wash the seeds with water in a strainer and spread out on a sheet of wax paper to dry.  Let the seeds dry in a cool, dry location for about a week before storing.

Place halves, cut side down, on foil lined baking sheet.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until you are able to easily pierce the outside with a fork.  Take them out of the oven and let them cool.  Thursdays are baking days for me, and to save some time, sometimes I'll bake these up the night before and after they cool, put them in the fridge until the next morning.  

After the squash has cooled, simply scoop the insides into the food processor and blend until creamy.  I blend three to four halves at a time.  At this point, you can either spoon the squash into freezer bags or use immediately in any recipe that calls for pumpkin or squash.  Today I spooned it into a big tupperware container, used 4 cups of it for pies and put the rest of it into the fridge.  I couldn't even tell I had used any from the container, that's how much of it one squash will make.  No more buying canned pumpkin at the store, using it, eating it and then hearing on the news that there has been a recall!  Here is the Pumpkin Pie recipe I use and let me tell you that it is scrumptious!  The secret is the maple syrup!

Pumpkin Pie made with Banana Squash

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of squash (or one 15 oz. can of pumpkin)
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients; beat until smooth and pour into the crust.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 45 - 50 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and top of the pie is set.  Test for doneness by inserting a knife into the pie, if the knife comes out clean, it's done.  Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.

Now I'm sure someone else can make a prettier pie than this one, my disposable pie pan wasn't big enough for this recipe as you can see, I filled it too full.  Just know that the recipe is more than plenty for a good deep pie.  Another nice touch to this pie, which I didn't do, is to add Maple Whipped Cream on top of it.

Maple Whipped Cream  (Very Good!)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tablespoons confectioners sugar

1 Tablespoon maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Beat all ingredients until stiff peaks form.  Spoon onto pie and enjoy!

Everyone be sure and let me know how you like the recipe!!